My Favorite Things

Good morning, my friends. I'm writing fast this morning. We have to drive into town to get the windshield replaced on Mike's truck. Yes, the windshield. Do you remember the windshield episode...the one where we weren't even two hours on our way for our trip to Alaska when a gravel truck threw a rock and broke our windshield? Oh yeah...that was fun...and annoying.

The crack spread out and made new ones during our trip until there was very little space on my side of the windshield that wasn't obscured by cracks. Fortunately, the driver's side was barely affected. I said back then that if it was the worst thing to happen on that trip, we'd be happy campers. In retrospect...it really was the worst thing that happened. There were plenty of close calls, but this was the worst. We didn't get caught in any wildfires. We didn't get inundated by any tsunamis. We didn't get eaten by grizzlies...or orcas. I'll say the mosquitos had a field day, but we both survived. So a broken windshield seems a minor inconvenience. Until this morning when it means I have to write fast, and I'll miss my morning slow-stitching. Oh well.

So backing up to yesterday, I had a day with all my favorite things: cooking, canning, baking, stitching, sewing, and cats. First, I restocked the pantry with my favorite Small Batch Tomato-Jalapeno Jam.

My yield was 3-3/4 pints. That should keep me in tomato jam for a couple of months. Happily, this only takes two pounds of Roma tomatoes, and so I can make it even in the off season.

Next, I made some substitutions to the recipe for Healthy Applesauce Oat Muffins to make it more compliant with our new Mediterranean diet guidelines. We each had one for our pre-breakfast snack this morning, and they turned out great with the substitutions. (I always worry about moisture and texture when I go mucking around with things.)

So, I linked to the original recipe back there. These were my substitutions:

for the milk, I used buttermilk

for the whole egg, I used two egg whites

for the butter, I used 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil

for the sugar, I used honey

Okay, and while those were baking, I finished off the 10th embroidered block for the Raggedy & Friends project.

The Raggedy & Friends project was my take-along project for our trip. Now that we're home, I'll put it into the regular rotation with my other embroidery projects. Next up, I'll be working on the 11th block for Grandpa's Bridges. This was another take-along project at one time. All the designs were printed onto Sticky Fabri-Solvy, and all the backgrounds were cut. All I had to do was stick the newest one to its background, and voila! It's ready for stitching.

While I was working on that, I was thinking about the next art quilt for The Endeavourers art quilt group. I didn't participate in the most recent reveal for August since we were traveling much of the time. Now the new prompt has been announced. This time around, we'll be doing "Sashiko." 

When a new prompt is announced, it sets my mind reeling with possibilities. After spending some time thinking about it and perusing Pinterest, I believe I know what I'm going to do. After I had the block above ready for stitching, I spent some time preparing a "pattern" for my Sashiko project. As you might guess, it will be mostly hand-stitched. Here's your peek:

When I'd taken that as far as I could, I went back to work on the Raggedy blocks. I needed to cut and piece the fourth block. It was Smitty's turn to be my helping cat yesterday. He took one look at the mess on my work table and uttered a big sigh-meow.

It was good he took a turn because poor Sadie was 'zhausted after three days of sewing.

With Smitty's help, I finished the fourth block.

Here are the four blocks I have for this quilt so far.

With the 10th embroidered section completed, I could go on and make the fifth block, but I'm getting kind of tired of working on this. It'll go into the regular WIPs rotation now, and I'll complete the pieced blocks as I come to them. For now, completing the first four blocks was my goal for August's

I'll link up there when the party starts at the end of the month.

Now I'll move on to the next project that requires catching up...the Kittens in Teacups. These are the blocks I have for this project so far. 

I've completed the blocks through May. To catch up, I'll need to complete June, July, and August. Since we're in the month of August, I'll start with August's aqua block. And, as you might know, these blocks drive me crazy. The pattern is poorly written and difficult to follow. So, I'll probably stick with August's block for the time being. June and July will get finished as I'm able to tolerate the frustration.

Okay, so I said I was writing fast, and I'm afraid that's all the time I have for our chat this morning. It'll be good to have the windshield repaired. In the bargain, Mike is taking me out to breakfast for my trouble. We're hoping we can sneak into McDonald's while they're still serving breakfast for our beloved Egg McMuffins. If not, we'll do something else. Yeah...that Mike...he's a big spender.